One of the great things about being a JISC-funded project is
the ability to network with other projects in the programme. There are many areas of common ground across
all the Pathfinder projects and talking to institutions is a rewarding
experience. It is relatively easy to
carry out and complete a project in isolation but, without interacting with
other projects in the programme, a real opportunity is missed.
Interacting with other projects is a chance for support, advice and, most significantly, the exchange of ideas. This was the case in point for us recently
when we had a conference call with colleagues at Coventry University working on
the O2OA
project.
We were able to explain our methodology and approach but
also to receive suggestions and encouragement from colleagues with interests similar
to our own. We are clear that we see the
methodology that we develop and use during our Making Sense project will itself
be an output. We hope that it will
strike a chord with other institutions, particularly those similar in mission to
our own, and help in embedding OA compliance to support our researchers.
We were particularly pleased to talk about behavioural
change and pick up advice on normalization process theory. We hope that this will inform our work on
sensemaking. It was also good to discuss
our concerns about process maps and how they do not reflect the researcher
experience. Both our projects are more
interested in putting the researcher at the centre and understanding this as a
constellation is central to our thinking and our work.
We look forward to more equally rewarding exchanges with
other projects within the programme and welcome the opportunity to talk with colleagues.
